While it may require some imagination to find practical application for subcaliber adapters, they do not represent a significant investment, and the results are interesting. Introducing young shooters to centerfire shooting is one chore they can handle, small game hunting with a big game rifle is another.

The subcaliber chamber insert consists of an adapter with two parts. The adapter itself is well machined of good material with excellent finish. The adapter resembles a cartridge case and is specific to the caliber. In other words, you need a .30-06 adapter for the .30-06 and a .308 for the .308. The base of the adapter is a firing device. It is removed to insert a subcaliber round, such as the .32 ACP or .32 Smith & Wesson Long, and each adapter is also specific to the subcaliber cartridge specified. The base contains an inertia firing pin that is struck by the rifle’s firing pin. When the subcaliber cartridge is inserted, the base is pressed into place, and the insert is loaded in the same manner as any other cartridge. An extraction groove is milled into the bottom of the adapter in the same place as with a standard cartridge to facilitate extraction. Once the cartridge in the adapter is fired, the adapter is extracted in the normal manner. A bullet nose serves to press the spent case into the adapter just a bit. This budges the base of the adapter enough to grasp and remove the base from the adapter. I simply shake the spent cartridge from the adapter. Then we start over.

This is not a high-speed device, but the adapters are inexpensive enough that you may keep several on hand if your desire is to fire a string instead of a single shot. Due to the construction of the units, they normally have a good tight fit to the chamber and offer good accuracy. The pistol cartridge conversions use cartridges that do not have enough sectional density for accuracy or effect at 100 yards, but to 50 yards they are great devices for marksmanship practice and even small game hunting. The .32 ACP, as an example, is very accurate when fired in the long barrel of a .30-06 rifle. The Speer Gold Dot or the Federal Hydra Shock hollowpoint bullets expand well and are deadly on small game. The .32 Smith & Wesson Long insert is my favorite of the two .32s, and this one is particularly well suited to use with cast bullet handloads, especially the Magnus 100-grain semi-wadcutter (SWC). I have also enjoyed good results with handloads using the Hornady 60-grain XTP in both calibers.

This bullet is light enough that some expansion is realized in the pistol calibers. The long barrel of a rifle provides good velocity but, surprisingly, very little velocity, if any, over a 4-inch pistol barrel.

Let’s talk about velocity. I had quite a surprise with the .32 ACP insert. As a rule, with the standard loads in .32 ACP, velocity is less with the rifle than with a pistol. It is simply true. The reason must be that the cartridge isn’t very powerful and the bullet simply drags going through the barrel. As an example, the zippy Fiocchi 71-grain FMJ bullet exits the Walther PP at about 1,005 fps. From the Enfield .30-06, 775 fps was realized. A few loads using the slower powder choices meet or beat pistol velocity. With the .32 Smith & Wesson Long and the various slower-burning powders we saw a modest increase in some loads but never more than 25 fps over the pistol calibers. Again, a bit surprising compared to our experience with the .22 Long Rifle and .357 Magnum, but considering the modest powder charges used, we should not have been surprised. Power isn’t increased but accuracy is.

While the pistol calibers are the most economical, I also own a subcaliber insert in .30 Carbine that offers much greater velocity than the pistol cartridge adapters and makes for a reasonable alternative for use at longer range. The .30-caliber carbine is a fine pest popper, but when used in a quality bolt-action rifle, it is far more accurate than we would have believed. Just the same, most of my experience revolves around the .32 ACP adapter. I recently enjoyed an outing with my young daughter and an Enfield .30-06 rifle. This rifle is in excellent condition, although the stock was replaced with commercial wood at some point in the past. Since the collector value was gone, I had set the rifle aside in hopes that one day I would run across an affordable original military issue stock set. A better solution was realized.

My daughter Bobbie Ann had expressed an interest in Mossy Oak camouflage tape. The gun safe had not a single rifle I deemed suitable for this project until I remembered the Enfield. Why not? She did a good job after we spent some time disassembling and taping the Enfield. I was proud that a young girl of 14 found something to admire in a rifle produced by Remington in 1917. This rifle is heavy for a 14-year-old, but it is what we had on hand and while we may end up deploying a lighter rifle in the field, this was a good starting place. Her first shots from a centerfire rifle were fired with the Enfield and the .32 ACP cartridge adapter. There is much to recommend in a young girl born in 1996 who finds a rifle produced during the time of President Wilson useful and interesting.

With the .32 ACP subcaliber insert, recoil is nonexistent. There is no comparison to the gentle push of a .22 rimfire or the slight recoil of a .223 Remington. There is no movement at all when the rifle is fired with the .32 ACP insert. Muzzle report is trivial. Just the same there is a degree of useful power. The bullet is not dense enough to give good accuracy results at 100 yards, but to 50 yards there is real accuracy. It is no problem to hit a gallon milk jug offhand at 100, and with practice a target half that size may be engaged. On occasion, by holding the front post several inches over the target, I have connected with targets at 100 yards considerably smaller than a coyote. There is no ka bang on contact; it is more of a ker plunk due to the low velocity.

The .30-caliber carbine insert is a different story. It works differently. The cartridge is simply inserted into the hollow back of the adapter, and this works fine since the carbine round is a longer rifle round. There is a little rubber ring around the shoulder that helps in seating the adapter. I have not used this one as much. The report is greater than when using the pistol calibers but not much greater. Long-range practice to 100 yards is more profitable due to the higher velocity of the .30 carbine cartridge. The carbine round is out of the small game category but makes a first-class pest popper. It is simply another interesting alternative. I have not worked up loads specifically for the inserts and the Remington, but results were good with loads worked up for the Inland carbine.

I have handloaded for .32-caliber handguns on several occasions, but not on a regular basis. I did jump with both feet into the .32 Smith & Wesson Long a few months ago and had quite a few cartridges loaded for this caliber. Several combinations in the .30-06 adapter were tried with interesting conclusions. Handloads using the Magnus 100-grain SWC were particularly accurate, and despite the higher velocity in the long barrel, leading was not a problem. I have to state that firing 50 rounds of these is a lot in an outing, as loading the adapters is one step short of the speed exhibited by a Brown Bess musket. The Hornady 60-grain XTP showed excellent expansion results in a wet-pack, and the accuracy was good. The 85-grain bullets were okay but not as fast as the 60-grain bullets. The 100-grain XTP was no more accurate in this case than the 85-grainer.

I originally envisioned the adapters as providing .32 H&R Magnum ballistics or even nipping at the heels of the .32-20 in an

accurate rifle with a minimum of effort. I was wrong but this doesn’t mean the combinations are not useful. This experiment has been worthwhile on several points. The recreational value was there. I also took a cartridge and tweaked it to better accuracy and velocity, which is what handloading is all about. I also spent quality time with a youngster and perhaps convinced her that rifle shooting and handloading are a credible and interesting means of passing time.